Classical Corner Classical Music Corner

This thread (and the 70 that have preceded it) is for all things that relate to Classical Music. To access any of the old threads, please click here. Going forward, this will be the only thread needed, as a Gort has informed me that we no longer need to limit threads to 1,000 posts. This should make following this thread a bit easier, as we will always be here, no new threads. In addition, it will be easier to search for prior discussions.

Beginners are especially welcome in this thread. I hope that everyone will feel comfortable to post any questions that you may have about classical music and/or classical recordings. This includes requests for recommendations for recordings of particular works/composers, etc. We have lots of friendly, respectful and knowledgeable members who will be glad to help you out.
Feel free to post what you're listening to, recordings you recommend, recent classical purchases, classical concerts, classical works, classical composers or classical performers.

Please discuss audio hardware, music formats and software audio players (such as Spotify and Tidal) in threads dedicated to those topics. I suggest the thread Best Hardware for Classical Music for audio hardware discussion.

And as always, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all of the regulars (you know who you are) that continue to make this thread an enjoyable, civilized and informative experience! You guys are still the best!

Thank YOU, George for all of the work on the past 70 threads as well as you and others rekindling my interest in classical music. I also very much appreciate the recommendations and advice from you and the others in those past threads as I delve into areas of classical music that previously held no interest for me.

Back when CD was still the brand new, shiny, with-it format to which everyone (well, nearly everyone) aspired, a collector friend bought a Technics player and started exploring. And hated it. I don't know if it's because he listened exclusively over (pretty bad) headphones, but he said that every time he tried listening to a disc, he got a splitting headache. Be that as it may, not long thereafter, a big collection of 78s came his way, and he let me borrow the player for a couple of weeks while he did a shellac fest. Looking ahead to when I would take the CD plunge myself, I took the opportunity to buy around a dozen discs of my own and, using my friend's player, transfer them to open reel so that I could still enjoy the music once my friend reclaimed it. OK, let's get to the point: this disc was one of them, and I still have it. Haven't played it in a long time, but I remember it as being a nice account. Probably won't go back to it any time soon, though--the radio, to which I listen a lot in a lengthy commute, has been so water(music)logged in recent years that I've grown really tired of this score--quite spoiled it for me.

...OK, let's get to the point: this disc was one of them, and I still have it. Haven't played it in a long time, but I remember it as being a nice account. Probably won't go back to it any time soon, though--the radio, to which I listen a lot in a lengthy commute, has been so water(music)logged in recent years that I've grown really tired of this score--quite spoiled it for me.

Ok, I have found out from a Gort that we no longer need to stop this thread after 1000 posts, it can continue indefinitely. So, in the interest of clarity, I have asked him to rename the first thread in this series Classical Music Corner (thread#1) and we will now continue our discussion in a new (and final) thread entitled simply Classical Music Corner. Please continue in that thread now, as this one will be locked. The older threads can be easily found doing a title search in Music Corner for "Classical Music Corner." Please continue the discussion here.

There's a "back to the future" quality about this whole thing. Harpsichords and early pianos (what we call "fortepianos") were all straight strung, and so were the "square grands" that were fixtures of just about every parlor in America during the Victorian era.

(A particularly florid example of the breed.)

Indeed, if memory serves, the first piano built and sold by Heinrich Steinweg was a square. Granted, squares were strung crosswise rather than fore-and-aft, but they did supposedly have a characteristic sound very different from that of their modern upright and wing counterparts. As an aside, they also take special parts, tools, and skills to service; never buy one not in working order with the idea that you can call up your local tuner and have it easily fixed.

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We folks on this forum may be the last generation who appreciate and are perhaps even passionate about classical music. Given the current disposable era mentality when MP3 sound rules and classical music has becomes less and less relevant, I wonder if there will be future generation of craftsmen who can build or service instruments for classical music ...

As I drove my daughter to an activity in the past hour, guess what came on the radio yet again? Sigh....

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Didn't mean to start a "water fight"

I agree, there is certainly music that is overplayed on classical radio today...if you can actually find a station...I think many of them changed their formats to emphasize "lighter" music and isolated single movements of classic works to attract new listeners who may not have the "patience" to listen through a complete Bruckner symphony, which I think is the exact opposite of what their core listeners want to hear. I don't ever want to get tired of hearing a Strauss waltz, for example, and maybe over saturating some music is actually turning some people away ("Oh goody, the first movement of Beethoven's 5th, for the fourth time this week!")

I agree, there is certainly music that is overplayed on classical radio today...if you can actually find a station...I think many of them changed their formats to emphasize "lighter" music and isolated single movements of classic works to attract new listeners who may not have the "patience" to listen through a complete Bruckner symphony, which I think is the exact opposite of what their core listeners want to hear. I don't ever want to get tired of hearing a Strauss waltz, for example, and maybe over saturating some music is actually turning some people away ("Oh goody, the first movement of Beethoven's 5th, for the fourth time this week!")

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I have many versions of the Water Music but have not played any in years but did so reluctantly when I was recently going through the Sony Vivarte box, which provides a second-rate performance ...